


coulrophobia

by Skyuni123



Series: Brokenwood Fic Week 2020 (isolation edition) [3]
Category: The Brokenwood Mysteries
Genre: Carnival, Clowns, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24393637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: Breen is having a very bad day.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Brokenwood Fic Week 2020 (isolation edition) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758790
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	coulrophobia

**Author's Note:**

> written for @brokenwoodfanpage's fic week! prompt was 'carnival'

Sam Breen doesn’t like a lot of things. Spiders. Most bugs. Stumbling upon elderly swingers having the time of their lives - that’s a story he will never tell.

But one of the things he likes the least are clowns.

No thanks.

It’s not the result of any kind of childhood trauma, either. It’s just  _ clowns. _

Anyone who thinks that becoming a clown is a good idea is probably clinically insane.

Another carnival rolls into town and surprise, surprise - someone else gets murdered. Breen isn’t quite sure why Brokenwood is allowed to hold any events larger than 10 people any more, considering the town’s propensity for murder when they do, but CIB gets called out all the same. 

The man’s in his mid-40s, and he’s slumped over the edge of a ride cart. The ride itself is called  _ Scared Stiff!  _ and has a large clown mannequin attached to one side.

“It’s like a ghost train.” The ride attendant, whose name Breen has forgotten, says. “But with more clowns. Boss thought’d be a gimmick.”

“It certainly is.” Mike says, and climbs into the ride car next to the corpse.

“He was complaining of tightness in his chest when he came out.” The ride attendant adds, “Then he just- carked it.”

Well, that’s one way to describe a dead body. Breen personally wouldn’t use those terms, but he’s too busy trying not to flinch as the clown mannequin seems to stare right down at him. 

Kristen elbows him and says, “It’s looking right at you.”

“Get off.” He grunts, even though it is.

The ride attendant’s gone a bit pale now that he’s back near the body, so Mike seems to take pity on him. “Potentially a heart attack, but we won’t know more until Gina takes a look at him. I’ll have a chat. Kristen, why don’t you take Flynn aside and talk to him, Breen-”

“Yes, Senior?”  _ Flynn,  _ that was his name.  _ Right. _

“I want you to walk through the ride, see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

Mike’s  _ got  _ to be kidding.

…

He’s not. 

…

The next five minutes are some of the worst of Breen’s life, and he’s counting the time he was literally held at gunpoint. 

Clowns are the  _ worst.  _

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on [ tumblr ](http://eph-em-era.tumblr.com) for more of this nonsense.


End file.
